Aerobot: an Autonomous Airship

A Nature.com
article describes Aerobot, an 11 meter long autonomous airship.
Aerobot is being developed by Alberto Elfes and
a NASA team as a testbed for a potential aerial planetary exploration
robot. It would be able to cover greater distances than a ground rover
but provide better images than an orbiting platform. Aerobot is smart
enough to correct its course in wind. It can also assess the danger of
air turbulence with its wind sensors and move to a safe altitude if
needed. On Earth the robot takes advantage of GPS signals but it can
also track its location using only images it takes of the ground. A
newer model of the robot may be launched toward Titan in
2012. In the meantime, similar robots may be developed to monitor
rainforests or act as temporary communication platforms over disaster
areas. A few more details are available on the NASA Aerobot page.